January 2004 - December 2004

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A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
January 26, 2004. No.185.

CIVIC REVOLUTIONARIES
Civic Revolutionaries: Igniting the Passion for Change in America's Communities-- offers a practical guide for renewing the great American tradition of spirited, breakthrough community leadership. By their very nature, revolutionary leaders help their communities reconcile the competing values on which our nation was built: individualism and community, freedom and responsibility, trust and accountability, economy and society. [by Douglas Henton, John G. Melville, Kimberly A. Walesh. ISBN: 0-7879-6393-3.October 2003, Jossey-Bass.] Click here for more information.

EDUCATING AMERICA
No Child Left Behind, has widely been criticized for imposing unrealistic standards on states and cities and the failing to provide adequate funds. Beyond this immediate issue lies the larger challenge of rescuing the the ideal of the common school so that, well, so that no child is left behind. That project requires a national commitment of adequate resources and inventive strategies, beginning with investments in very young children who are currently not part of the education system at all. Click here for more information.

JOB WATCH: TRENDS FOR LIBRARIES SERVING JOB SEEKERS
JobWatch web feature tracks current trends in the U.S. labor market and offers up-to-date readings on its status. Over the longer term, the past two years have been among the worst on record for payroll employment growth, and the lack of job creation is leading many to exit the labor market and cutting into the hours of work of those who remain employed. The persistence of these weak demand conditions have led to stagnant hourly and weekly wage trends that are falling behind inflation and thus eroding the living standards of working families. The fact that the labor market remains this weak more than two years into a recovery highlights the failure of economic policy to reach those sectors of the economy, specifically the job market, that matter most to working families. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
January 30, 2004. No.186.

NATIONAL NETWORK FOR IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE RIGHTS
The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) is a national organization composed of local coalitions and immigrant, refugee, community, religious, civil rights and labor organizations and activists. It serves as a forum to share information and analysis, to educate communities and the general public, and to develop and coordinate plans of action on important immigrant and refugee issues. Click here for more information.

UNITED FARMWORKERS OPPOSE IMMIGRATION PLAN
President Bush talked about his new immigration proposal during his Jan. 20 State of the Union address. His plan is empty. It offers no new path for hard-working immigrants to earn a green card and the right to permanently be in this country legally. Click here for more information.

LA RAZA ON IMMIGRATION
Questions and Answers about President Bush's Immigration Proposal. We fear that the President may want to implement something similar to the old bracero program. The bracero program was a guestworker program in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. Under this program, over four million Mexican workers came to the U.S. to work in agriculture and on the railroads. Unfortunately, the bracero program was also known for its exploitation and abuse of workers. Furthermore, the President announced he would like to offer financial incentives to guestworkers so that they return to their home countries. NCLR is deeply suspicious of any plans to offer financial incentives to immigrant workers to return home. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
February 10, 2004. No.187.

NATIONAL CONSUMER LAW CENTER
The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) is the nation's consumer law expert, helping consumers, their advocates, and public policy makers use powerful and complex consumer laws on behalf of low-income and vulnerable Americans seeking economic justice. Click here for more information.

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
The estimated population of the United States is 293,252,514 so each citizen's share of this debt is $23,928.74. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.77 billion per day since September 30, 2003. Click here for more information.

REFUND ANTICIPATION LOANS
Refund anticipation loans (RALs) are usurious short-term loans secured by the taxpayer's expected tax refund. Over half of RAL consumers are recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), despite the fact that EITC recipients only constitute 15% of all taxpayers. This is the annual update from the National Consumer Law Center and Consumer Federation of America on RALs. o Consumers paid an estimated $1.14 billion in RAL fees and an additional $406 million. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
February 10, 2004. ALERT.

FEBRUARY 11 is 2-1-1 DAY.
Please join efforts to obtain critical federal funds for your community. We encourage you to contact your Senators and Representatives to urge co-sponsorship of the Calling for 2-1-1 Act. The legislation will provide federal money to states starting or enhancing a 2-1-1 system. The "Calling for 2-1-1" Act authorizes $200 million annually from the Department of Commerce to help develop and sustain 2-1-1 nationwide. States would designate, if they have not already, a lead entity for 2-1-1 which would develop a statewide plan for implementation and administer the funds. States would be required to provide a 50% match in order to draw down the federal dollars. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
February 13, 2004. No.188.

Sources and Sites for Librarians Building Community. Click here for more information.

COLORLINES - Spring 2004.
" Man with a Plan." Interview with Walden Bello. one of the leading critics of the current model of economic globalization, combining the roles of intellectual and activist. As a human rights and peace campaigner, academic, environmentalist, and journalist, he has made a major contribution to the international case against corporate-driven globalization. In 1995, he co-founded the Focus on the Global South, a Bangkok-based research and advocacy organization. Bello is the author of the recently-released Deglobalization: Ideas for a New World Economy. The Belgian newspaper Le Soir recently called Bello" the most respected anti-globalization thinker in Asia." Click here for more information.

CENTER FOR ARTS AND CULTURE
The Center for Arts and Culture aims to inform and improve policy decisions that affect cultural life. The guiding principles of that mission include freedom of imagination, inquiry and expression, as well as freedom of opportunity for all to participate in a vital and diverse culture.Founded in 1994 in Washington, DC, the Center is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization, supported by foundations and individuals, governed by a board of directors, and advised by a Research Advisory Council. Click here for more information.

TEACHABLE MOMENT
Teachable Moment provides educators with timely teaching ideas to encourage critical thinking on issues of the day and foster a positive classroom environment. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
February 16, 2004. No.189.

NO ROOM FOR POVERTY
The Community Action Partnership is planning a rally on September 4, 2004. It will be a "call to conscience," a call to fulfill a 40-year-old commitment because there is" No Room For Poverty" in America. The Community Action Partnership was established in 1972 as the National Association of Community Action Agencies (NACAA) represents Community Action Agencies (CAAs) working to fight poverty at the local level. Click here for more information.

WEAK LABOR MARKET TAKES TOLL
The weak labor market is now hurting employed workers as well as those looking for work. In 2003, real (inflation-adjusted) weekly wages fell for low- and middle-wage men and were stagnant or fell slightly for low- and middle-wage women. This trend is in sharp contrast to the significant and sustained real wage growth over the 1995-2002 period when unemployment was falling Despite the acceleration of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in late 2003, the wage growth of production, non-supervisory workers (over 80% of the workforce) actually slowed in this period. Click here for more information.

FAMILY SUPPORT AMERICA
In each state, a coalition of parents, state agency personnel, representatives of community-based organizations, and others concerned about the quality of human services are working in partnership with Family Support America. These coalitions are developing cutting-edge strategies for creating caring communities so that all families have access to the resources they need to raise healthy children. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
February 17, 2004. No.190.

REGIONAL PROGRESS AND SUSTAINABILITY A new forum for displaying the results of projects that measure regional sustainability across the United States. Redefining Progress' primary measures of sustainability are the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) and the Ecological Footprint. If your region or community is interested in learning more about how to measure its progress toward sustainability, please contact Redefining Progress. Click here for more information.

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY
This issue of SafeKeeping highlights the importance of information in two national initiatives to keep children safe and strengthen child welfare services for children, youth, and families by building partnerships: Community Partnerships for Protecting Children (Community Partnerships) and Family to Family. Over the past three years, Community Partnerships and Family to Family have worked together and learned from each other to create a solid foundation for reforming child welfare. Click here for more information.

LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION (LISC).
The LISC helps resident-led, community-based development organizations transform distressed communities and neighborhoods into healthy ones-- good places to live, do business, work and raise families. By providing capital, technical expertise, training and information, LISC supports the development of local leadership and the creation of affordable housing, commercial, industrial and community facilities, businesses and jobs. We help neighbors build communities. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
February 23, 2004. No.191.

SWIMMING IN SEWAGE
Sewage overflows cost Americans billions a year in medical treatment, lost productivity and repairs, and current policies are compounding the problem. This February 2004 report from Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Integrity Project describes the emerging environmental and public health crisis resulting from our nation's failure to effectively treat sewage, presents seven case studies from around the country that illustrate how exposure to sewage pollution has killed or seriously injured people and harmed local economies, and recommends solutions to America's sewage problem. Click here for more information.

LEAVING TOO MANY CHILDREN BEHIND
" No Child Left Behind: A Federal-, State- and District- Level Look at the First Year." Reports from the The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University.The reports demonstrate that federal accountability rules have derailed state reforms and assessment strategies, that the requirements have no common meaning across state lines, and that the sanctions fall especially hard on minority and integrated schools, asking for much less progress from affluent suburban schools. Click here for more information.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA ON IMMIGRATION
We fear that the President may want to implement something similar to the old bracero program. The bracero program was a guestworker program in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. Under this program, over four million Mexican workers came to the U.S. to work in agriculture and on the railroads. Unfortunately, the bracero program was also known for its exploitation and abuse of workers. Furthermore, the President announced he would like to offer financial incentives to guestworkers so that they return to their home countries. NCLR is deeply suspicious of any plans to offer financial incentives to immigrant workers to return home. Under the bracero program, a portion of workers' salaries were withheld and they were promised that this money would be returned to them once they returned to Mexico. However, many braceros never received their savings, and there is still litigation in the courts today trying to recover that money for former braceros and their families. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
February 27, 2004. No.192

FAIRNESS: The Civil Rights Act of 2004.
For forty years the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has attempted to level the playing field in job opportunities, education, housing, voting and other areas. On February 11, 2004 civil rights leaders and Democrats introduced a multi-year initiative before Congress in an attempt to pass a sweeping update of the nation's laws barring discrimination. Click here for more information.

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification. Click here for more information.

JOBLESS AID DENIED
From late December, when the federal program designed to help the long-term unemployed began phasing out, through the end of February, an estimated 760,000 jobless workers will have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits without receiving additional aid, according to new projections by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. This suggests both that the job market continues to be soft and that the federal unemployment program should be restarted. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
March 1, 2004. No.193.

USING SCIENCE TO HELP THE POOR
The Earth Institute at Columbia University brings together talent from throughout the University to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with particular focus on sustainable development and the needs of the world's poor. The Earth Institute is motivated by the belief that science and technological tools already exist, and could be expanded, to greatly improve conditions for the world's poor while preserving the natural systems that support life on Earth. Click here for more information.

LOCAL PURSUIT OF EQUITY
PolicyLink, a national nonprofit research, communications, capacity building, and advocacy organization, is enlarging the sphere of influence that affects policy so that those closest to the nation's challenges are central to the search for their solutions. PolicyLink believes that the pursuit of equity must be guided by the wisdom, voice, and experience of local constituencies. Click here for more information.

COMMUNITY DEMOCRACY
The National Civic League, the United States' original organization advocating for the issues of community democracy, envisions a country where citizens are actively engaged in the process of self-governance and work in partnership with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors of society, and where citizens are creating active civic culture reflective of the diversity of community voices. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
April 8, 2004. No.194.

FOOTPRINT OF NATIONS
The 2004 Footprint of Nations concludes that the world's wealthiest nations are mortgaging the future at the expense of today's children, the poor, and the long-term health of the Earth. Through excessive consumption of non-renewable resources, a handful of countries are depleting global reserves at a faster rate than ever before. These problems are compounded as wealthy nations continue to grow their economies by exploiting the resources and economic potential of their impoverished neighbors. Click here for more information.

THE CREATIVE SECTOR
The UNESCO meeting report is now available that explores how cultural participation and audience development differ among Europe, the United States, and Latin America, titled the" International Creative Sector." Sponsored by the Center for Arts & Culture, UNESCO, and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the conference was second in a series of UNESCO meetings about current issues in the arts and cultural industries. A final report is now available. Click here for more information.

BREAD & ROSES
Bread and Roses is the not-for-profit cultural arm of New York's Health and Human Service Union, 1199/SEIU. Its 220,000 predominantly Latina and African American women members are employed in all job categories in health care institutions throughout the metropolitan area, New Jersey and Florida. Bread and Roses was founded in 1979 as a cultural resource for union members and students in New York City who would otherwise have little access to the arts. Special emphasis is given to programs that signify and interpret their history while generating new artistic expression. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
April 13, 2004. No.195.

NATIONAL ISSUES FORUM
National Issues Forums (NIF) is a nonpartisan, nationwide network of locally sponsored public forums for the consideration of public policy issues. It is rooted in the simple notion that people need to come together to reason and talk - to deliberate about common problems. Indeed, democracy requires an ongoing deliberative public dialogue. Click here for more information.

SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY IN POLICYMAKING
At a time when one might expect the federal government to increasingly rely on impartial researchers for the critical role they play in gathering and analyzing specialized data, there are numerous indications that the opposite is occurring. A growing number of scientists, policy makers, and technical specialists both inside and outside the government allege that the Bush administration has suppressed or distorted the scientific analyses of federal agencies to bring these results in line with administration policy. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
April 19, 2004. No.196.

PRISON TRACK TO COLLEGE TRACK
Taking aim at the "hidden, national crisis" that consigns nearly five million out-of-school and unemployed young adults to a future locked out of education and family-supporting jobs, Jobs For the Future (JFF) calls on policymakers and educators around the country to get behind educational dropout prevention programs that successfully connect out-of-school youth with education and put them on a path to further study and solid employment. Click here for more information.

CHARTBOOK ON HEALTH OF YOUTH
Quality of Health Care for Children and Adolescents: A Chartbook is the first comprehensive national report on the quality of pediatric care. The researchers, Sheila Leatherman and Douglas McCarthy,
reviewed over 500 studies and synthesized this information into 40 charts that provide a portrait of the current state of pediatric health care. It also identifies geographic, racial, and ethnic disparities in care for children across the United States and provides examples of quality improvement programs that have successfully improved care. Click here for more information.

FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE--SHELTERFORCE
The Fortress of Solitude, by Jonathan Lethem. Doubleday. 2003." One of my favorite parts of the book is this recognition that, in both a metaphoric and real way, the flip-side of gentrification is
the massive increase in the incarceration of African-Americans and Latinos in the 1980s and 1990s. I wish that more community groups would recognize this, and create programs like FAC's Developing Justice, which seeks to create community-based alternatives, and organizes to change the so-called criminal justice system. Lethem sees both the stark prism of race - that the price of beautifying our urban neighborhoods is not simply benign displacement but the creation of a legion of "prisonaires" - as well as its many and deep ironies." Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
April 23, 2004. No.197.

HOW DESEGREGATION CHANGED US
Teachers College (Columbia). School desegregation fundamentally changed the people who lived through it, yet had a more limited impact on the larger society. Public schools faced enormous challenges during the late 1970s as educators tried to facilitate racial integration amid a society that remained segregated in terms of housing, social institutions, and often employment. Nonetheless, desegregation made the vast majority of the students who attended these schools less racially prejudiced and more comfortable around people of different backgrounds. After high school, however, their lives have been far more segregated as they re-entered a more racially divided society. Click here for more information.

AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America,dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Three primary goals: 1) increasing public and private sector support for the arts; 2) ensuring that every American child has access to a high-quality arts education; and 3) strengthening communities through the arts. To achieve our goals, we partner with local, state, and national arts organizations; government agencies; business leaders; individual philanthropists; educators; and funders throughout the country. Click here for more information.

CHILD CARE & EARLY EDUCATION
The "Child Care & Early Education Research Connections" promotes high quality research and child care and the use of that research in policymaking. Resources indexed and housed on the Research
Connections site cover a broad spectrum of research on child care and early education and related policies. The collection brings together original research, syntheses, datasets, and other research-related resources from the wide range of social science disciplines and professional fields that study early care and education. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
April 29, 2004. No.198.

WOMEN'S LIVES
Over the past few years, vital data has been deleted, buried, distorted, or has otherwise gone missing from government websites and publications.The National Council for Research on Women has begun to document how these changes and exclusions affect women's lives in a new report, entitled MISSING: Information About Women's Lives. The MisInformation Clearinghouse continues this work, by gathering new information through the MisInformation Blog and a Resource Exchange. Click here for more information.

SLIP-SLIDING AWAY
The report, Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward, shows that many of the Administration's actions with harsh effects on women are occurring almost completely without public scrutiny, and some of its more well-publicized actions have a particularly harsh impact on women that is not widely known. The report includes recommended actions that should be taken to expand and protect women's rights and opportunities. National Women's Law Center. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
May 7, 2004. No.199.

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5

CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46 of 10 December 1984. Click here for more information.

WORLD ORGANISATION AGAINST TORTURE
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and other forms of violence. Its global network comprises nearly 300 local, national and regional organisations, which share the common goal of eradicating such practices and enabling the respect of human rights for all. Click here for more information.

STOP TORTURE: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Combating torture: a manual for action is an invaluable tool for all those who want to understand and fight against torture in the 21st century. It brings together the standards and recommendations of the UN, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and other sources from around the world, as well as Amnesty International's recommendations, concerning the prevention of torture and ill- treatment. There are chapters on the prohibition of torture under international law, safeguards in custody, conditions of detention, torture in other settings, and overcoming impunity. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
May 12, 2004. No.200.

CAN SEPARATE BE EQUAL?
For many of our children, especially those who live in low income urban school districts, the nation's educational system is failing. Today, the reading level of the average, low-income twelfth grader is the same as that of the average, middle-class eighth grader- regardless of race. THE CENTURY FOUNDATION. Click here for more information.

CITISTATES
The Citistates Group is a network of journalists, speakers and civic leaders focused on building competitive, equitable and sustainable 21st century metropolitan regions. Click here for more information.

FORUM FOR YOUTH INVESTMENT
The Forum for Youth Investment (the Forum) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are ready by 21 - ready for work, college and life. This goal requires that young people have the supports, opportunities and services needed to prosper and contribute where they live, learn, work, play and make a difference. The Forum provides youth and adult leaders with the information, technical assistance, training, network support and partnership opportunities needed to increase the quality and quantity of youth investment and youth involvement. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
May 20, 2004. No.201.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect
people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. Click here for more information.

CIVIL RIGHTS
civilrights.org is a collaboration of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund. Its mission: to serve as the site of record for relevant and up- to-the minute civil rights news and information. Home to socially- concerned, issue-oriented original audio, video, and written programming, civilrights.org is committed to serving as the online nerve center not only for the struggle against discrimination in all its forms, but also to build the public understanding that it is essential for our nation to continue its journey toward social and economic justice. Click here for more information.

HERITAGE HEALTH INDEX
In July 2004, the Heritage Health Index questionnaire will arrive at 16,000 archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, and scientific organizations nationwide. This survey of the condition and preservation needs of collections will-for the first time-produce a national picture of the state of artistic, historic, and scientific collections held by the full range of institutions that care for them. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
May 26, 2004. No.202.

Sources and Sites for Librarians Building Community. Click here for more information.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2004
Huge challenges confronted the international human rights movement in 2003. The UN faced a crisis of legitimacy and credibility because of the US-led war on Iraq and the organization's inability to hold states to account for gross human rights violations. International human rights standards continued to be flouted in the name of the " war on terror", resulting in thousands of women and men suffering unlawful detention, unfair trial and torture – often solely because of their ethnic or religious background. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
June 9, 2004. No.203.

HUMAN RIGHTS
The Center for Constitutional Rights has remained dedicated to defending and advancing the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our work began on behalf of civil rights activists in the Jim Crow South and the racist North, and over the last four decades CCR has played an important role in many popular movements for social justice. Currently posted: copies of memo planning at high levels of government to abuse and torture detainees. Click here for more information.

SUSTAINABILITY
The Global Footprint Network supports a sustainable economy by promoting the Ecological Footprint, a tool that makes sustainability measurable. We coordinate research and develop methodological standards so that decision makers have robust resource accounts to ensure that we live within the Earth's budget. Click here for more information.

JOB WATCH
The Council on Economic Advisors projected that, starting in July 2003, the economy would generate 228,000 jobs a month without a tax cut and 306,000 jobs a month with the tax cut. Thus, it projected that 3,366,000 would be created in the last 11 months. In fact, since the tax cuts took effect, jobs have grown by 1,365,000—two million fewer jobs than the administration projected would be created by enactment of its tax cuts. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
June 15, 2004. No.204.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIDEO PROJECT
The Human Rights Video Project is a national library project created to increase the public's awareness of human rights issues through the medium of documentary films. To that end, we have curated a collection of 12 documentary films on human rights issues. The project also encourages
collaborations between public libraries and human rights advocacy organizations to present film screenings and discussion programs. The project was developed by National Video Resources in partnership with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. Click here for more information.

HUMAN RIGHTS & IRAQ
" Beyond Torture: U.S. Violations of Occupation Law in Iraq." Center for Economic and Social Rights, June 10, 2004. This report by the Center for Economic and Social Rights presents ten categories of U.S. violations of the laws of occupation, documented by human rights groups, journalists, eyewitnesses, and, at times, the U.S. military itself. This “top ten” list, which is by no means comprehensive, demonstrates how U.S. practices violate the full range of laws meant to safeguard the rights of the Iraqi people. The systematic nature of these violations provides compelling evidence of a policy that is rotten at its core and requires a fundamental transformation of assumptions and objectives. The occupation of Iraq is not leading to greater respect for rights and democracy, as promised by the Bush Administration, but rather entrenching a climate of lawlessness and feeding an increasing spiral of violent conflict that will not end until the occupation ends and underlying issues of justice are addressed. After providing details of these war crimes and rights violations, the report offers recommendations, conclusions, and a postscript summarizing the recent history of U.S. policy towards Iraq. The overall report is intended to support the growing peace and justice movements in the U.S. and worldwide in their efforts to end the occupation and promote solutions to the Iraq crisis based on respect for human rights and international law. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
July 21, 2004. No.205.

SUSTAINING THE PUBLIC SPHERE IN LIBRARIES
Public librarians stimulate community discussion on issues through support of events like the National Issues Forum, reading discussion programs, such as, "A Response to September 11," and reading viewing programs. Public libraries activate the public sphere through support of life-long learning and discussion programs and strengthen the public's desire for opportunities to address issues that are salient to the community.If discourse becomes more democratic through consensus building, it is partly because authentic discourse enables people to move from personal opinions to informed ideas. --from Introduction to Public Librarianship, 2004. Click here for more information from Neal Schuman. Click here for more information on the Human Rights Project.

COMMISSION ON ADULT ADULT BASIC EDUCATION
Purposes: To promote adult education and literacy programs, including Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, English for Speakers of Other Languages, Family Literacy, Skills Development, Workforce Development, and other state, federal, and private programs which assist undereducated and/or disadvantaged adults to function effectively in society; To provide leadership in advancing the education of adults in the lifelong learning process by unifying the profession, developing human resources, encouraging and using research, communicating with the members and the public, offering other member services, and otherwise advancing adult education and literacy;To advocate the development and dissemination of publications, research, methods, and materials, resources and programs in adult education and literacy;To conduct and/or sponsor professional development conferences and activities that provide a forum to provide staff development and advance adult education and literacy. Click here for more information.

NATIONAL EQUAL JUSTICE LAW LIBRARY
The National Equal Justice Library is our country's first national institution established to house and commemorate the legal profession's long and little known history of providing legal representation for those unable to afford counsel. The Library is co- sponsored by the American Bar Association, the American Association of Law Libraries and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and is housed at the Washington College of Law at the American University in Washington, DC. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
July 23, 2004. No.206.

ADVANCEMENT PROJECT
Advancement Project is a democracy and justice action group. We work with communities seeking to build a fair and just multi-racial democracy in America. Using law, public policy and strategic communications, Advancement Project acts in partnership with local communities to advance universal opportunity, equity and access for those left behind in America. [Thanks CM] Click here for more information.

11 MOST ENDANGERED PLACES
This year’s list comprises a wide range of sites—from a modern Big Apple icon to an ancient Native American "art gallery." Read about this year's endangered places and find out how you can help protect them and other irreplaceable pieces of America's history. For more than 50 years, the National Trust has been helping Americans protect the irreplaceable. A private nonprofit organization with more than 200,000 members, the National Trust is the leader of the vigorous preservation movement that is saving the best of the country's past for the future. Click here for more information.

CULTURAL COMMONS
The Cultural Commons is an virtual commons, or open meeting place, designed to engage all who care about creativity and culture. The Cultural Commons seeks to attract new interest and new thinking about arts and cultural issues, engage a broad and diverse constituency in a lively exchange of ideas, and provide resources and ideas for further involvement -- such as event participation, employment in the cultural policy sector, research, or even new partnerships for organizations. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
July 26, 2004. No.207.

POVERTY & RACE ACTION COUNCIL
PRRAC is a non-partisan, national, not-for-profit organization convened by major civil rights, civil liberties and anti-poverty groups. Our purpose is to link social science research to advocacy work in order to successfully address problems at the intersection of race and poverty. Click here for more information.

NATIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION
The NNC serves as a crucial link to Washington for neighborhood and community-based organizations and an important networking resource for representatives of regional and national organizations involved in community development, housing and a wide range of other neighborhood issues. Click here for more information.

SEARCH FOR FAIR HOUSING (HISTORICAL RESEARCH).
Housing and School Segregation: Government Culpability, Government Remedies." Historical studies, funded by a multi-year grant from the Ford Foundation, trace the development of federal housing and transportation policies in relation to increasing housing and school segregation in American Metropolitan areas. Several reports: "The Last and Most Difficult Barrier: Segregation and Federal Housing Policy in the Eisenhower Administration, 1953- 1960;" "The Interstates and the Cities: Highways, Housing, and the Freeway Revolt;" "Democracy's Unfinished Business: Federal Policy and the Search for Fair Housing, 1961-1968." Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
July 28, 2004. No.208.

THE LONG SHADOW OF JIM CROW
Voter Intimidation Didn’t Disappear with Jim Crow.No matter what we’re taught in school, voter intimidation, oppression, and suppression weren’t swept away with the passage of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965. A joint PFAW Foundation - NAACP report, The Long Shadow of Jim Crow,reviews the subtler, more cynical tactics that have replaced the poll taxes, literacy tests and physical violence of the Jim Crow era. PFAWF President Ralph G. Neas' July 15 testimony at the
Civil Rights Commission highlighted the continuing disarray in election preparation and detailed the nationwide nonpartisan coalition program to protect voters' rights: Election Protection. Click here for more information.

ALLIANCE OF I & R. 2-1-1-TOOLKIT.
The 2-1-1 Toolkit is field tested, 2-1-1 approved.The Alliance of Information and Referral Systems has designed the AIRS 2-1-1 Toolkit to help 2-1-1 planners create cost effective, high quality, and investor friendly business plans. The AIRS 2-1-1 Toolkit is the only 2-1-1 planning process developed by experienced 2-1-1 consultants and tested by 2-1-1 planners in the field. Developed through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the tools are based on facilitated local planning in Portland OR and Seattle WA, as well as statewide planning in FL, TX, OR, and WA. The resulting tools have also been reviewed and refined by an experienced team of 2-1-1 developers from the field and from the AIRS and UWA national offices. Click here for more information.

PROLIFERATION NEWS AND RESOURCES
The Nonproliferation Project of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has established itself as the full-service Web site for studying weapons of mass destruction. It provides country-by- country assessments of WMD capabilities, strategic analyses for coping with today's proliferation crises, and daily links to the latest news. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
July 30, 2004. No.209.

NO ROOM FOR POVERTY RALLY
The Community Action Partnership is holding the “No Room for Poverty” National Rally September 4, 2004, on the Ellipse in Washington, DC. to unify the nation around the need to end poverty. Focus on five key areas: health care, jobs, housing, education, and the Digital Divide.The Partnership is calling for a White House Conference on American Poverty because they believe that only the White House can assemble expert theorists, practitioners, and policymakers needed to address this issue. They also feel it is of utmost importance for the nation to tackle fundamental issues that particularly impact low-income Americans. Click here for more information.

CITY PARKS FORUM
The City Parks Forum is dedicated to providing information on how healthy parks are fundamental to many aspects of community prosperity. These include improving economic health and vitality, reducing crime, improving public physical and mental health, creating a strong sense of community, supporting overall quality of life ... the list is quite long. All these issues are important to communities across the country, and to those both in and outside the parks profession. Click here for more information.

ASSESSING JOB QUALITY
June 2003 to June 2004, real average hourly wages have fallen from $15.83 to $15.65. Similarly, real average weekly wages have fallen from $533.58 to $525.84. This decline is due to a combination of: (a) the lingering effects of the jobless recovery and the considerable existing labor slack that has lowered workers' bargaining power; (b) rising inflation that lowers workers' purchasing power; and (c) the fact that faster-growing industries pay less, on average, than shrinking or slower-growing industries. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
August 2, 2004. No.210.

Sources and Sites for Librarians Building Community. Click here for more information.

CULTURAL LIBERTY
[Human Development Report 2004]. Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World. Accommodating people’s growing demands for their inclusion in society, for respect of their ethnicity, religion, and
language, takes more than democracy and equitable growth. Also needed are multicultural policies that recognize differences, champion diversity and promote cultural freedoms, so that all people can choose to speak their language, practice their religion, and participate in shaping their culture—so that all people can choose to be who they are. Click here for more information.

REAL DANGERS FOR POOR FAMILIES
H.R. 4, the House-passed TANF reauthorization bill, requires more hours of work for people receiving TANF, would reduce the amount of education and training that counts towards the core work requirement, and would require a much greater proportion of families receiving TANF to participate. States will get credit towards meeting their work participation requirements by further reductions to the caseload, no matter what happens when families leave. Only $1 billion in additional child care funding would be assured over 5 years, far too little to cover inflation, to meet the needs of
growing waiting lists in states, and to pay for the increased work requirements. Click here for more information.

CULTURE OF PEACE NEWS NETWORK
Culture of Peace News Network, a global network of interactive Internet sites in many languages where readers exchange information about events, experiences, books, music, and web news that promote a culture of peace. It is a project of the United Nations International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
August 4, 2004. No.211.

LA RAZA
The National Council of La Raza - the largest national constituency- based Hispanic organization and the leading voice in Washington, DC for the Hispanic community - is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization established to reduce poverty and discrimination and improve life opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Four major functions provide essential focus to the organization’s work: capacity-building assistance; applied research, policy analysis,and advocacy; public information efforts; and special and international projects. These functions complement NCLR’s work in five key strategic priorities - education, assets/investment, economic mobility, health, and media/image/civil rights. Click here for more information.

H-MUSEUM
The H-MUSEUM list addresses themes and questions primarily relating to museological topics. Museums are intended to be interdisciplinary, so that archaeological, historical, cultural and artistic information can be posted. Also important are informations about memorial museums and places, monuments and the culture of remembrance. Articles relating to the activities of archives and libraries will also be listed. Another focus is the history and development of museums. A particular feature is the emphasis on museums and the internet. Click here for more information.

PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK
PEN seeks to build public demand and mobilize resources for quality public education forall children through a theory of action that focuses on the importance of public engagement in school reform. PEN believes community engagement is the missing ingredient in school reform, and that the level of public involvement ultimately determines the quality of education provided by public schools. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
August 6, 2004. No.212.

GOING NOWHERE
Reality Check: Going Nowhere Workers' Wages Since the Mid-1970s. Experience since 2000 suggests that the long period of stagnant wages is dragging on. In marked contrast to the 1947–74 period—when wages for almost all workers were rising steadily and faster than the inflation rate—average wages after the mid-1970s failed to grow consistently. Household incomes continued to rise somewhat fitfully over that period, but only because family members were working more hours. Bernard Wasow analyzes the causes of slow wage growth and looks at which Americans are losing out because of it. Click here for more information.

AMERICA'S CHILDREN
The State of America's Children 2004:A Continuing Portrait of Inequality Fifty Years After Brown v. Board of Education. Features the most recent data available on our nation's children and reviews
developments in family income and child poverty, hunger and food assistance, child health, child care, Head Start and school-age care, education, children and families in crisis, and juvenile justice and youth development. [Children's Defense Fund]. Click here for more information.

HUNGER MAP
The United Nations World Food Programme map of the areas with hungry and malnourished people around the world. The map will serve as an educational tool to teach the geography of hunger in schools and other educational institutions.Demonstrates the agency’s mission to stop global hunger. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
August 24, 2004. No. 213.

"Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty." Father Joseph Wresinski,October 17, 1987 - Trocadéro -

FOURTH WORLD MOVEMENT
The Fourth World Movement is an international organization whose actions throughout the world fight extreme poverty and promote human rights. The Movement originated in 1957 in an emergency housing camp for homeless families at Noisy-le-Grand, near Paris, France. Click here for more information.

ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER
The Millennium Development Goals call for reducing the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day to half the 1990 level by 2015-from 28.3 percent of all people in low and middle income economies to 14.2 percent. The Goals also call for halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger between 1990 and 2015. Click here for more information.

DECADE FOR ERADICATION OF POVERTY
First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997- 2006). In December 1996, the General Assembly declared the theme for the Decade as a whole to be "Eradicating poverty is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind." Click here for more information.

WORLD DAY TO OVERCOME EXTREME POVERTY

Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
September 3, 2004. No. 215.

PUBLIC LIBRARIES & COMMUNITY PARTNERS" Public Libraries and Community Partners:
Working Together to Provide Health Information"-- web resource to encourage health information partnerships between public libraries, members of the NN/LM, and local health or community-based organizations. Includes background information about consumer health as well as suggestions for providing health information services. Six Guides provide extensive information for organizations interested in preparing health outreach projects in their local communities. These projects are examples of how public libraries and other agencies can apply for funding from the NN/LM or other sources. Click here for more information.

NO ROOM FOR POVERTY-TOMORROW
As poverty rates continue to soar and as the nation is just months away from electing the next president, the Community Action Partnership is taking an aggressive approach toward ending poverty by holding the No Room for Poverty National Rally September 4 on the Ellipse in Washington, DC. During this groundbreaking event, the Partnership, its 1,000 Community Action Agencies, and nearly 40 national partner organizations will join Americans from across the country in calling for a White House Conference on American Poverty. The group is urging the presidential candidates to agree to convene such a conference next year. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
September 13, 2004. No. 216.

AMERICA'S LITERACY DIRECTORY
America's Literacy Directory is a national database of literacy programs available via the Internet and the National Institute for Literacy's toll-free number. The ALD connects employers, learners,
volunteers, social service providers, and others to current information about literacy programs in all 50 states and the U.S. territories. Click here for more information.

300 CRIMES AGAINST NATURE
The Sierra Club's members are 700,000 of your friends and neighbors. Inspired by nature, we work together to protect our communities and the planet. The Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. Click here for more information.

ACCESS FOR ALL
Social Exclusion defined: 'What can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health, poverty and family breakdown.' ACCESS FOR ALL is a self-assessment tool aligned with the principles in the Inspiring Learning for All learning and access framework. It builds on the social inclusion and cultural diversity toolkits developed for the Museums, Libraries and
Archives (MLA)Council 2003, and the disability toolkit produced in 2002. MLA believes passionately that access to knowledge is what empowers people to learn, to be inspired. It enables us to understand ourselves and the world around us and to develop better communities for the future. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
September 16, 2004. No. 217.
Dia de la Independencia!

REFORMA: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION TO PROMOTE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES TO LATINOS AND THE SPANISH- SPEAKING.
REFORMA is committed to the improvement of the full spectrum of library and information services for the approximately 56.2* million Spanish-speaking and Latino people in the United States. Established in 1971 as an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), REFORMA has actively sought to promote the development of library collections to include Spanish-language and Latino oriented materials; the recruitment of more bilingual and bicultural library professionals and support staff; the development of library services and programs that meet the needs of the Latino community; the establishment of a national information and support network among individuals who share our goals; the education of the U.S. Latino population in regards to the availability and types of library services; and lobbying efforts to preserve existing library resource centers serving the interests of Latinos. Click here for more information.

UNITED FARM WORKERS.
Founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez, the UFW has consistently battled for 40 years to organize farm workers, raise wages, improve working conditions and win new collective bargaining, legal and legislative protections for the poorest and most abused working people in America. Today, the union, under the leadership of UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, continues Cesar Chavez's legacy of
fighting for social justice by actively participating in the legislative and political process as well as engaging in labor, water, pesticide, health care, housing and economic development issues. Click here for more information.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA
The National Council of La Raza - the largest national constituency-based Hispanic organization and the leading voice in Washington, DC for the Hispanic community - is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization established to reduce poverty and discrimination and improve life opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Four major functions provide essential focus to the organization's work: capacity-building assistance; applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy; public information efforts; and special and international projects. These functions complement NCLR's work in five key strategic priorities - education, assets/investment, economic mobility, health, and media/image/civil rights. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
October 4, 2004. No. 218.

OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE-INFORMATION PROGRAM
The mandate of the OSI Information Program is to promote the equitable deployment of knowledge and communications resources - providing access to content, tools and networks - for civic empowerment and effective democratic governance. A secondary mission of the program is to enhance the effectiveness of other OSI/Soros foundations programs and activities through the use of knowledge media and ICTs. The Information Program is not primarily a technology program. The program's mission is social. Technology is an important tool for achieving this mission, but not the only one; the program uses the most appropriate combination of new and traditional media, as well as policy advocacy, training and institution-building, to pursue this mission. Click here for more information.

DEMOCRACY PROGRAM AT THE CARTER CENTER
The Democracy Program works in three principal ways: conducting international election monitoring; strengthening the capacity of civic organizations to participate in government policy making; and promoting the rule of law. In all of its work, the Democracy Program incorporates a commitment to the protection and advancement of human rights values, upon which former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter founded The Carter Center. Click here for more information.

VOTEWATCH
Votewatch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, citizen-driven organization founded to promote transparency in American elections, and ensure that every vote cast is counted fairly and accurately for ALL Americans, irrespective of where they live, where they vote, or their background (socioeconomic status, age, race, ethnicity, etc.). Votewatch works as a Public Service Intermediary to bring together citizen input, expert survey research methods, and leading-edge technology in a way that strengthens each American's ability to uncover, document, analyze and report on election problems. Click here for more information.


A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
October 11, 2004. No. 219.

POOR EXCUSES: HOW NEGLECTING POVERTY COSTS ALL AMERICANS
Poor Excuses examines how, after strong economic growth in the 1990s, poverty in America has been on the rise since 2000. This Reality Check traces the root of the problem back to areas
of concentrated poverty that exacerbate the situation by disconnecting their residents from the job market and providing substandard schools. The authors find that the best remedy to this problem is the reversal of recent government efforts to curtail programs that assist the poor. By Matha Paskoff and Libby Perl. Click here for more information.

TIME FOR A RAISE
It's been seven years since Congress last increased the minimum wage - the second longest stretch of government inaction since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938. In a signed statement, released today by the Economic Policy Institute, 562 economists, including four Nobel Prize winners in economics, support a modest increase in the minimum wage, saying it œcan significantly improve the lives of low-income workers and their families. These economists also support raising state minimum wages, including proposed raises in Florida, Nevada, and New York. (Oct.7,2004). Click here for more information.

TCRP: TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH
The mobility, environmental, and energy objectives of a growing population and economy calls for public transportation systems in the United States to expand their services and improve their efficiency. Practical research that yields near-term results can do much to help “ by solving operational problems, adopting useful technologies from related industries and, in general, finding
ways for the public transportation industry to innovate. The Transit Cooperative Research Program is a key instrument for carrying out such useful research. The program places primary emphasis on putting the results in the hands of organizations and individuals that can use them to solve problems. Click here for more information.

A LIBRARIAN AT EVERY TABLE
October 12, 2004. No. 220.

Sources & Sites for Community Building. Click here for more information.

CIVIL RIGHTS
President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words. The report reaches this conclusion after analyzing and summarizing numerous documents, including historical literature, reports, scholarly articles, presidential and administration statements, executive orders, policy briefs, documents of Cabinet-level agencies, federal budgets and other data. Top Right Link. Click here for more information.

COLORLINES
In the post-Sept.11 era, state and local governments are being forced to choose sides on the immigrant rights debate. Click here for more information.

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Please e-mail all comments to Kathleen de la Peña McCook at kmccook@tampabay.rr.com.